Voice of The Blues(Blues & Gospel of the African American)

May we
introduce to you:
A mammoth series of Blues CDs comprising selections of the finest performances
with the best sound available today! First two CDs available
now (see below).

PART 1:
1892-1943

This is a projected series
of 50 CDs! (A similar series of acoustic blues in the post-war period 1944-1970s
is also planned some time further down the line).

Initially to be issued in
sets of 5 CDs, these CDs are offered to buyers at six pounds (£6 Sterling)
per CD. There will also be two 5-CD sets for connoisseurs with an extensive
booklet, transcriptions of lyrics, more pictures, etc. produced in a vintage
setting -- (date of issue TBA) - an essential set for serious collectors.

Our aim is to feature one
title (generally) by each artist. Normally containing around 23 sides on each CD
covering some 1,150 recordings, we have tried to select the finest performances
in the best sound available today. But on odd occasions an unavoidable `noisy'
side may be included. This will probably indicate the rarity of the original 78
(it's this copy or nothing!) or the title's inclusion as of relevant importance
to some other material on a given CD.

By only using one title
per artist on these CDs we are hoping to engage the interest of newcomers to Blues and Gospel to dig deeper into further recordings by any performer who
'speaks' to them or they otherwise enjoy.

This major project intends
to cover the waterfront. So not only out and out rural styles but examples of
hokum, vaudeville-blues, 'pre-blues', and of course gospel are included. And one
other important addition to our criteria in this series is not to include all
the very best in the earliest issues. It is intended to spread them out so that
arguably CD 50 will contain as much highest quality blues and gospel as CD 1.

The following passage from
one of the first books on the Blues serves as an introduction to this new
series. In 1959 radical, black writer the late Richard Wright, said in the
Foreword of Paul Oliver's seminal book 'Blues Fell This Morning': "The blues
are fantastically paradoxical and, by all logical and historical odds, they
ought not to have come into being. I'm absolutely certain that no one predicted
their advent. If I may indulge in an imaginative flight, I can hear a white
Christian Virginian planter say, in 1623, debating thus with his conscience
while examining a batch of the first slaves brought from Africa: `Now, these
black animals have human form, but they are not really human, for God would not
have made men to look like that. So, I'm free to buy them and work them on my
tobacco plantation without incurring the wrath of God. Moreover, these odd black
creatures will die early in our harsh climate and will leave no record behind of
any possible sufferings that they might undergo. Yes, I'll buy five of these to
be used as slaves... " As Wright added: "But that mythical Virginian
planter would have been tragically deluded." (See
footnote)

Here in the 21st Century
we can certainly testify to that last sentence. The Blues have never been so
internationally popular or influential as they are at this time. But
even so, it seems the earlier forms have not come in from the edges of society
where they have resided since their popularly believed birth sometime in the
last two decades of the 19th. Century. Part of this project is to
attempt to alter that situation.

What is so awesome about
the Blues is that performances of such stark beauty, haunting vocals, and
sometimes off-the-planet accompaniments should be the result of so much horror,
degradation, and atrocities which were the hallmarks of the perpetuation of
slavery - or the 'peculiar institution' as it was often known. This applies to
many recordings by some vaudeville-blues artists as well as singers in the
gospel genre. The Blues is first and foremost a SURVIVAL entity - more than just
another music, but a way of life. As one elderly black singer in the 1980s put
it "Blues is the voice of the soul".

We hope you will
enjoy
this new venture, as we are excited about creating it.

'Mississippi Max',
'Hellhound Rex' & 'Earlyblues Al'

Initial CDs Volume 1 and Volume 2 available now at £6 each + £1 postage:

Note from Alan:
The picture on volume 1 (above) is from a photograph I took of the
beautiful old
wooden road bridge in Edwards, Mississippi in September 2006, just weeks
before it was demolished to be replaced by a new concrete bridge. I
returned in May 2008 and here is a photo of the replacement bridge: